Table Talk

What do you do about food security if your country is mostly surrounded by desert? It's a growing problem, particularly for the United Arab Emirates. It's estimated that around 120,000 square kilometres of land is lost to the desert each year. Countries like the UAE rely heavily on imported food, but efforts are being made to turn desert land, into fertile land. In fact, it's already happening - there are melons being grown in the desert around Dubai right now. But the challenge is to increase the diversity of crops being grown, as well as the size of the crops themselves. Two companies, recognised as one of the food related Expo Live global innovators at Expo 2020 hosted in Dubai, are working on some solutions. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast we find out how they are going about making the desert fertile and the cost of failing to act. Dr Dionysia Angeliki Lyra, Halophyte Agronomist, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture Dr Dionysia Angeliki Lyra has been workin